Apparatus and method for inspecting defects

ABSTRACT

A defect-inspecting apparatus including an arrangement to convert detected light into a first signal corresponding to light illuminated by a high-angle illumination optical system and/or a second signal corresponding to light illuminated by a low-angle illumination optical system; and a classification unit which utilizes the first and second signal and classifies defects on the object to be inspected, wherein a defect size is estimated by changing a correction coefficient of the defect size on a basis of a concave-convex level (b/a), where the concavo-convex level (b/a) of a defect is indicated by a ratio of a size b of a first direction of the defect to a size a of a second direction of the defect, where the second direction is lateral to the first direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/050,776, filedJan. 18, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,187,438. This application relates toand claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-056547,filed on Mar. 1, 2001. The entirely of the contents and subject matterof all of the above is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a defect-inspecting apparatus and adefect-inspecting method, which are used for inspecting defects such asa scratch or a particulate foreign material by discrimination; thedefects occur in a planarization fabrication process based on polishingor grinding fabrication technique, which is used in semiconductorproduction and in magnetic head production.

As a prior art that inspects a foreign material, which adheres to asemiconductor wafer where a circuit pattern is formed, by discriminatingthe foreign material from a circuit pattern, Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open No. Hei 3-102248 (prior art 1) and Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open No. Hei 3-102249 (prior art 2) are known. To be more specific,in the prior arts 1 and 2, the following are described: a firstphotoelectric conversion element detects a foreign material on asemiconductor substrate by emphasizing the foreign material usingoblique illumination; in addition to it, a second photoelectricconversion element detects the foreign material by emphasizing an edgeof a circuit pattern, which is a background on the semiconductorsubstrate, using incident (vertical) illumination; after that, a foreignmaterial detection signal obtained from the first photoelectricconversion element is divided (or is processed by other operation) by adetection signal obtained from the second photoelectric conversionelement; and then, the foreign material is detected by emphasizing theforeign material detection signal.

In addition, as a prior art that separates a foreign material adheringto a surface of a silicon wafer from a crystal defect existing on thesurface in order to inspect them, Japanese Patent Application Laid-OpenNo. Hei 9-304289 (prior art 3) is known. To be more specific, in theprior art 3, the following are described: a low-angle light receivingsystem, of which an elevation angle with reference to a surface of asilicon wafer is 30° or less, and a high-angle light receiving systemhaving an elevation angle higher than this are provided; the low-anglelight receiving system and the high-angle light receiving system receivescattered light, which is obtained by irradiating with a laser beam thesurface of the silicon wafer substantially perpendicularly; and aforeign material and a crystal defect are inspected by discriminatingthe scattered received only by the high-angle light receiving system,which is treated as a crystal defect, from the scattered received byboth the low-angle light receiving system and the high-angle lightreceiving system, which is treated as an adhered foreign material.

Moreover, as a prior art that discriminates a foreign material and aflaw existing on a surface of a semiconductor wafer from a minute dottyconcave portion, which will not cause a failure when producing a circuitpattern, without misidentification in order to inspect them, JapanesePatent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 11-142127 (prior art 4) is known.To be more specific, in the prior art 4, the following are described:each of two pieces of illumination light having a wavelength differentfrom each other is condensed and irradiated at the same point on asurface of a semiconductor wafer using a low incident angle and a highincident angle (each of the angles is different from each other); eachscattered light from the condense point is received andphotoelectric-converted separately according to each of the twowavelengths; and utilizing intensity difference between signals (that isto say, utilizing the fact that from a dotty concave portion, scatteredlight intensity of illumination light having a low incident angle isweakened), a foreign material and a flaw existing on the surface of thesemiconductor wafer are inspected by discriminating the foreign materialand the flaw from the dotty concave portion.

By the way, as typical planarization fabrication technique that is usedfor an object to be fabricated (for example, an insulating layer) at thetime of semiconductor production and magnetic head production, there isCMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing). The CMP is a planarizationtechnology that scatters free abrasive such as silica on a polishingpad, and that polishes a surface of the object to be fabricated.Moreover, as the planarization fabrication technique, grindingfabrication technique may also be used. The grinding fabricationtechnique buries a fixed abrasive such as a diamond in a polishing padto perform grinding fabrication in a similar manner. In the polishing orthe grinding fabrication technique, on the surface of the object to befabricated (for example, insulating layer on the semiconductor substrate(wafer)) after polishing or grinding, a scratch showing shapevariations, which is a polishing or a grinding flaw, may be produced. Inthis manner, if a scratch showing shape variations is produced on thesurface of the object to be fabricated in the semiconductor productionand the magnetic head production, etching will become insufficient inwiring formed on the scratch, which causes a failure such as shortcircuit. For this reason, it is necessary to observe a wafer polishedsurface or a ground surface after polishing or grinding and to monitor astate in which a scratch showing shape variations has been produced. Ifmany scratches have been produced, polishing or grinding conditionsshould be reviewed so that the conditions correspond to the shapes ofthe scratches. In addition to it, at the same time, if a foreignmaterial adheres, a failure such as an insulation failure or a shortcircuit of wiring formed on it is caused. If many foreign materialsadhere, measures such as equipment scrubbing, which are different fromthose against a scratch, become necessary. More specifically, in apolishing process or a grinding process for the object to be fabricated(for example, the insulating layer on the semiconductor substrate), aforeign material and a scratch showing shape variations are separatelymonitored, and appropriate measures are required to be taken againsteach.

However, all of the prior arts from 1 to 4 did not take the followingpoint into consideration: when the polishing process or the grindingprocess is performed for the object to be fabricated (for example, theinsulating layer on the semiconductor substrate), a scratch showingshape variations, which is produced on the surface, and an adheredparticulate foreign material, are inspected while discriminating betweenthem.

Moreover, as regards a size of the scratch showing shape variations, awidth W ranges from 0.2 to 0.4 μm approximately, and a depth D rangesfrom about several nm to about 100 nm (even a very deep scratch), whichis very minute. Therefore, an operator conventionally performed visualinspection for review using an electron microscope to discriminatebetween a scratch showing shape variations and a foreign material, whichrequired a long review time. As a result, measures against a scratch ora particulate foreign material are delayed, which causes a largequantity of wafers to be polished continuously in bad conditions,resulting in a great loss in profit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a defect-inspectingapparatus and its method, by which for the purpose of solving theproblems, a scratch, etc. showing shape variations, which are producedon the surface, are discriminated from an adhered particulate foreignmaterial to inspect them when the polishing process or the grindingprocess, such as CMP, is performed for an object to be fabricated (forexample, an insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate) insemiconductor production and magnetic head production.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide amethod for producing a semiconductor substrate, by which a semiconductorsubstrate free from a defect can be produced with high reliability andhigh efficiency by enabling hundred percent inspection or randominspection with sufficient frequency so that a scratch, etc. showingshape variations, which are produced on the surface, are discriminatedfrom an adhered particulate foreign material to inspect them when thepolishing process or the grinding process, such as CMP, is performed foran object to be fabricated (for example, an insulating layer on asemiconductor substrate).

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide amethod for producing a semiconductor substrate, by which a semiconductorsubstrate free from a defect can be produced with high reliability andhigh efficiency by enabling discrimination of a concave defect such as athin film-like foreign material and a scratch, which has a low heightand a shallow depth, from a convex defect such as a particulate foreignmaterial, which has a high height, to inspect the defects.

In order to achieve the objects described above, the present inventionprovides a defect-inspecting apparatus and method comprising:

-   -   a stage on which an object to be inspected is mounted;    -   an illumination optical system comprising;        -   an incident illumination system which incident-illuminates            illumination light including UV light or DUV light at a            point on a surface of the object to be inspected, which is            mounted on the stage, with desired luminous flux from a            normal line direction relative to the surface or from a            direction in proximity to the normal line; and        -   a oblique illumination system which oblique-illuminates            illumination light including UV light or DUV light at a            point on the surface of the object to be inspected with            desired luminous flux;    -   a detection optical system comprising;        -   a high-angle image formation optical system which condenses            first high-angle scattered light traveling at a high angle            relative to the surface of the object to be inspected, from            among first reflection light generated from the point, which            has been incident-illuminated by the incident illumination            system of the illumination optical system, and second            high-angle scattered light traveling at the high angle, from            among second reflection light generated from the point,            which has been oblique-illuminated by the oblique            illumination system of the illumination optical system, in            order to perform image formation; and        -   a photoelectric conversion unit which receives the first and            the second high-angle scattered light, of which image            formation has been performed in the high-angle image            formation optical system, to convert the first and the            second high-angle scattered light into a first and a second            luminance signal (S(i), T(i)); and        -   a comparison and judgment unit which classifies defects i on            the object to be inspected into concave defects and convex            defects on the basis of a correlation between the first            luminance signal S(i) and the second luminance signal T(i),            which have been converted by the photoelectric conversion            means of the detection optical system.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the incident illumination system of the illumination optical        system in the defect-inspecting apparatus is configured to        irradiate the surface of the object to be inspected with        incident illumination light without irradiating a condenser lens        so that stray light is not generated from the high-angle        condensation optical system.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the detection optical system in the defect-inspecting apparatus        additionally comprises a shielding unit (element) which shields        a specific light image, which is caused by the first reflection        light, on a Fourier transformed surface of the first reflection        light emitted from the point.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   in the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus, ratios (T(i)/S(i), S(i)/T(i)) are used as the        correlation.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus is configured to classify concave defects into        scratches and thin film-like foreign materials (because a        thickness of the thin film-like foreign material is very thin,        it is defined as a concave defect in the present invention) on        the basis of data in response to a defect size calculated by the        first luminance signal S(i) and the second luminance signal        T(i).

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus is configured to classify particulate foreign        materials, which are a convex defect, into a small group and a        large group on the basis of data in response to a defect size        calculated by the first luminance signal S (i) and the second        luminance signal T(i).

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus is configured to judge that the classified convex        defect occurs inside a circuit pattern area, or that the        classified convex detect occurs outside the circuit pattern        area.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus has a displaying unit for displaying information of a        discriminated defect.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus has a displaying unit for displaying information about        a relation of the first luminance signal to discriminate a        defect.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus has a displaying unit for displaying information about        a relation of the second luminance signal to discriminate a        defect.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   the comparison and judgment unit in the defect-inspecting        apparatus has a displaying unit for plotting a relation between        the first luminance signal and the second luminance signal,        which have been converted by the photoelectric conversion unit        of the detection optical system, on a correlation diagram, where        a horizontal axis and a vertical axis are expressed by logarithm        values, to display the relation.

In addition, the present invention is characterized by the following:

-   -   in the illumination optical system in the defect-inspecting        apparatus, a point incident-illuminated by the incident        illumination system and a point oblique-illuminated by the        oblique illumination system, which are on the surface of the        object to be inspected, are configured to be different from each        other in a visual field of the detection optical system.

Moreover, the present invention provides a defect-inspecting apparatusand method comprising:

-   -   a stage on which an object to be inspected is mounted;    -   an illumination optical system comprising;        -   an incident illumination system that incident-illuminates            illumination light including UV light or DUV light at a            point on a surface of the object to be inspected, which is            mounted on the stage, with desired luminous flux from a            normal line direction relative to the surface or from a            direction in proximity to the normal line; and        -   a oblique illumination system that oblique-illuminates            illumination light including UV light or DUV light, which            has a wavelength different from that of said            incident-illuminated illumination light, at a point on the            surface of the object to be inspected with desired luminous            flux;    -   a detection optical system comprising;        -   a condensing optical system which condenses first high-angle            scattered light traveling at a high angle relative to the            surface of the object to be inspected, from among first            reflection light generated from the point, which has been            incident-illuminated by the incident illumination system of            the illumination optical system, and second high-angle            scattered light traveling at the high angle, from among            second reflection light generated from the point, which has            been oblique-illuminated by the oblique illumination system            of the illumination optical system; and        -   a wavelength separation optical system which            wavelength-separates the first high-angle scattered light            and the second high-angle scattered light, which have been            condensed by the condensing optical system;        -   an image formation optical system which performs image            formation of each of the first high-angle scattered light            and the second high-angle scattered light, which have been            separated by the wavelength separation optical system; and        -   a first and a second photoelectric conversion unit which            receives each of the first high-angle scattered light and            the second high-angle scattered light, for which image            formation has been performed by the image formation optical            system, to convert the first high-angle scattered light and            the second high-angle scattered light into a first luminance            signal and a second luminance signal respectively; and    -   a comparison and judgment unit which discriminates a defect on        the object to be inspected on the basis of a relation between        the first luminance signal converted by the first photoelectric        conversion means and the second luminance signal converted by        the second photoelectric conversion means in the detection        optical system.

In addition, the present invention provides a defect-inspecting methodcomprising the steps of:

-   -   incident-illuminating and oblique-illuminating illumination        light including UV light or DUV light on a shallow scratch and a        foreign material, which are made on a surface of a polished or a        ground film, with substantially the same luminous flux;    -   receiving scattered light caused by a shallow scratch and a        foreign material, which is generated by the incident        illumination and the oblique illumination, by a detector to        convert the scattered light into luminance signals in response        to each intensity of the scattered light; and    -   discriminating between the foreign material and the shallow        scratch on the basis of a correlation of the converted luminance        signals.

In addition, the present invention provides a defect-inspecting methodcomprising the steps of:

-   -   incident-illuminating and oblique-illuminating illumination        light including UV light or DUV light on a flat thin film-like        foreign material and a foreign material, which are made on a        surface of a polished, washed, or a sputtered film, with        substantially the same luminous flux;    -   receiving scattered light caused by a thin film-like foreign        material and a foreign material, which is generated by the        incident illumination and the oblique illumination, by a        detector to convert the scattered light into a luminance signals        in response to each intensity of the scattered light; and    -   discriminating between the thin film-like foreign material and        the foreign material on the basis of a correlation of the        converted luminance signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a firstembodiment of a defect-inspecting apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 2( a) and 2(b) are diagrams illustrating shape parameters of ascratch and a foreign material, which are made on an insulating layer byCMP, according to the present invention;

FIGS. 3( a) through 3(d) are diagrams for describing a length ofprojected incidence light when irradiating a scratch and a foreignmaterial with luminous flux d, according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating principles of discrimination between ascratch and a particulate foreign material, according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one example of principles ofdiscrimination between a scratch and a particulate foreign material,according to the present invention;

FIGS. 6( a) through 6(d) are diagrams illustrating an example ofvertical irradiation and pseudo vertical illumination according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 7( a) through 7(c) are diagrams illustrating a luminance signalwaveform detected by a detection optical system according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a correlation diagram that shows a foreign material made on aCMP surface of a wafer using a correlation between a foreign materialsize estimated by a defect-inspecting apparatus (μm) and a SEM measuredsize measured by SEM (μm), according to the present invention;

FIGS. 9( a) and 9(b) are correlation diagrams that plots a state inwhich foreign materials occur, where a horizontal axis indicates a sizefrom a luminance signal (μm) and a vertical axis indicates a SEMmeasured size (μm) in a front-end process wafer (initial process wafer)and a back-end process wafer (latter-period process wafer), according tothe present invention;

FIG. 10 is a correlation diagram that shows a convex defect (particulateforeign material) and a concave defect (scratch, thin film-like foreignmaterial), which are made on CMP of a wafer, using a correlation betweena size (μm) from a luminance signal detected by a defect-inspectingapparatus and a SEM measured size (μm) measured by SEM, according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating one example of a process flow ofdiscrimination among a scratch, a thin film-like foreign material, and aparticulate foreign material (usual foreign material), according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 12 is a correlation diagram showing basic ideas according to thepresent invention, explaining that a scratch, a thin film-like foreignmaterial, and a particulate foreign material (usual foreign material)are discriminated according to a concavo-convex level (b/a) and a sizebased on a relationship between a luminance signal S (i) by incidentillumination and a luminance signal T(i) by oblique illumination;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a concavo-convex level;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for obtaining inspection results,which are classified into categories 1 through 5 so that fatality of adefect can be judged, according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating distribution of a particulate foreignmaterial and a scratch on the basis of a relationship between aluminance signal S(i) by incident illumination and a luminance signalT(i) by oblique illumination, according to the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating distribution of a particulate foreignmaterial and a scratch on the basis of a relationship between alogarithm value of a luminance signal S(i) by incident illumination anda logarithm value of a luminance signal T(i) by oblique illumination,according to the present invention; and

FIGS. 17( a) through 17(c) are diagrams illustrating a wafer map thatshows distribution of each defect discriminated by a defect-inspectingapparatus, according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of a defect-inspecting apparatus and method according to thepresent invention, which are used in a semiconductor production processor a magnetic head production process, and which aim to operate aplanarization fabrication process with stability, will be described withreference to drawings as below.

In the first place, a first embodiment of the defect-inspectingapparatus and its method according to the present invention will bedescribed. As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention relates to adefect-inspecting apparatus 100 that performs sampling inspection orhundred-percent inspection of products in the middle of a semiconductorproduction process. As regards a semiconductor production line, aprocess-control computer 101 manages production conditions, for example,through a network 103, or for each individual production equipment (notillustrated). In the middle of the process, a semiconductor is inspectedusing a foreign-material inspecting apparatus, an optical visualinspecting apparatus, a SEM inspecting apparatus, or by humans. If anabnormal condition is found as a result of the inspection, review isperformed using an optical reviewing apparatus, a SEM reviewingapparatus, or the like. As occasion requires, more detailed analysis isperformed using EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), etc. toidentify a cause of the abnormal condition. After that, measures forproduction conditions and production equipment, which-have caused theabnormal condition, are taken to improve a yield factor. Moreover, datasuch as coordinates and sizes of a foreign material and a defect, whichhave been detected by the defect-inspecting apparatus 100, andadditionally, data of kind, category, etc. of defects, which arediscriminated (classified), are managed online by a yield-factormanaging system 102.

As shown in FIG. 2, the defect-inspecting apparatus 100 according to thepresent invention is characterized by the following: forming aninterlayer insulating layer (an object to be fabricated) 22 of a SiO₂film, etc. on a Si wafer 21; and when performing CMP (ChemicalMechanical Polishing), discriminating a foreign material 24 from ashallow scratch 23 a that has been made on a wafer 10. It is to be notedthat the semiconductor substrate 21 of Si substrates, etc. is not alwaysprovided under the interlayer insulating layer 22 of the SiO₂ film, etc.A wiring layer may also be provided. In the CMP process, a surface ofthe SiO₂ film 22 is polished for planarization. Because of it, thescratch 23 a, which is a flaw caused by polishing, is produced on thesurface of the SiO₂ film 22 as shown in FIG. 2( b). In this case, a filmthickness of the SiO₂ film 22 is t; a width of the scratch 23 a is W;and a depth is D. As an approximate size of the scratch 23 a, Wapproximately ranges from 0.2 to 0.4 μm. In addition, the depth Dapproximately ranges from several nm to 100 nm (even if it is verydeep). Thus, the scratch 23 a, which is made in CMP, is characterized inthat a depth is very shallow relative to a width. FIG. 2( a) showsdimension parameters of the foreign material 24. In this case, theforeign material 24 is modeled as a particulate matter with a diameterΦ. The real foreign material 24 does not have such a regular sphericalshape. However, it is found out that concerning the scratch 23 a, thedepth D is very shallow (approximately ranging from several nm toseveral tens nm) relative to the width W (approximately ranging from 0.2to 0.4 μm), and that concerning the foreign material (particulateforeign material) 24, there is not extreme large difference between awidth and a height as compared with the scratch 23 a. The presentinvention pays attention to the ratio of dimensions peculiar to thescratch 23 a.

Next, a first example of a surface inspecting apparatus for inspectingscratches, which is used to realize the first embodiment, will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 through 9. To be more specific, asshown in FIG. 1, the first example of the surface inspecting apparatuscomprises a stage 15, an illumination optical system 1, a detectionoptical system 5, an operation processing unit 9, a stage controller 14,and a total control unit 30. Movements of the stage 15 in X and Ydirection are controlled while position coordinates of the stage 15 aremeasured, and a wafer 10 as an object to be inspected is mounted on thestage 15. The illumination optical system 1 includes for example aplurality of light sources 2 a, 2 b, each of which outputs light havinga wavelength different from each other, and which include light sources(not limited to a laser beam source) such as Ar laser light having awavelength of 488 nm (a wavelength of blue), nitrogen laser light, He—Cdlaser light, and excimer laser light, and reflection mirrors 4 a, 4 b, 4c. The detection optical system 5 includes a condenser lens 6, a beamsplitter 7 for splitting light according to a wavelength, andphotoelectric converters 8 a, 8 b comprising a photo-multiplier, a CCDcamera, a CCD sensor, and a TDI sensor. The operation processing unit 9includes A/D converters 16 a, 16 b for converting an analog luminancesignal, which is output from each of the photoelectric converters 8 a, 8b, into a digital luminance signal, storage units 17 a, 17 b fortemporarily storing a digital luminance signal obtained from each of theA/D converters 16 a, 16 b, and a comparator 18. The stage controller 14controls movement of the stage 15 on the basis of position coordinatesof the stage 15 measured by a laser displacement meter (not shown). Atotal control unit 30 controls the stage controller 14 beforecontrolling the operation processing unit 9, and that receives aninspection result obtained from the operation processing unit 9.

As light sources 2 a, 2 b, it is desirable to use a light source, ofwhich a wavelength is as short as possible, such as an excimer laserlight source in order to detect the minute foreign material 24 and theminute scratch 23, which are made on the insulating layer 22 processedby CMP, while discriminating them. To be more specific, as the lightsource 2 a, it is possible to use a laser beam source that outputs alaser beam having a wavelength of 488 nm or 365 nm for example; and asthe light source 2 b, it is possible to use a laser beam source thatoutputs a DUV laser beam or KrF excimer laser light, which has awavelength twice as long as a YAG laser wavelength (532 nm) or awavelength four times as long as the YAG laser wavelength (266 nm). Awafer surface (a surface of the insulating layer processed by CMP) isirradiated with the UV light or the DUV light emitted from the lightsource 2 a from a normal line (vertical) direction or its proximity,through the reflection mirrors 4 a and 4 c, without irradiating directlyon a surface of the condenser lens 6. This is called incidentillumination 12. Or the wafer surface (a surface of the insulating layerprocessed by CMP) is irradiated with the UV light or the DUV lightemitted from the light source 2 b from a oblique direction through thereflection mirror 4 b. This is called oblique illumination 11. In thefirst example, incident illumination and oblique illumination arerealized using two light sources 2 a, 2 b, which are separated from eachother, and a plurality of reflection mirrors 4 a through 4 c. However,the following configuration may also be used: one light source 2 b; andan optical-path switching mechanism (not shown) for switching an opticalpath of the UV light or the DUV light, which is emitted from the lightsource 2 b, to the mirror 4 b and the mirror 4 c. In addition, theexample can be configured regardless of the number of reflectionmirrors, and existence of the optical-path switching mechanism.

Moreover, a wavelength of the incident illumination light 12 can conformto that of the oblique illumination light 11 by configuring theillumination optical system 1 so that a point on a wafer surface, atwhich incident illumination light 12 is incident-illuminated in anincident illumination system, is differentiated from a point on thewafer surface, at which oblique illumination light 11 isoblique-illuminated in a oblique illumination system, within a visualfield of detection optical system 5. However, in this case, it isnecessary to place light receiving surfaces for the photoelectricconverter 8 a and the photoelectric converter 8 b so that each of thelight receiving surfaces corresponds to difference between theirradiation points on the wafer surface.

In this manner, the illumination optical system 1 only requires thatillumination (incident illumination and oblique illumination) 11, 12using two routes are realized without irradiating directly a surface ofthe condenser lens 6; that is to say, one route is from a normal linedirection (or from a direction of its proximity) relative to a CMPsurface where CMP is processed for the insulating layer 22 on the wafer10, and another route is from a oblique direction near from a waferhorizontal plane (an angle of 30° or less). In the case of the incidentillumination 11, as shown in FIG. 1, it may be pseudo incidentillumination that is as near a vertical direction as possible.

Next, detection procedures will be described. Detection is performedtwice for one piece of the wafer 10 while switching an illuminationdirection. More specifically, in the first place, a CMP surface of theinsulating layer 22 on the wafer 10 is irradiated with incidentillumination light 12 including UV light or DUV light, which is emittedby the light source 2 a, without irradiating directly on a surface ofthe condenser lens 6. Then, without generating stray light, which isreflected from minute surface roughness of a surface of the condenserlens 6 and from very minute foreign materials adhering to the surface,and in a state in which regular reflection light component generatedfrom the insulating layer 22 is removed, only scattered light (a loworder diffraction light component), which is emitted from the extremelyshallow and minute scratch 23 a and the foreign material 24 made on theinsulating layer 22 by CMP, is condensed by the condenser lens 6. Afterthat, through the beam splitter 7, the condensed light is received on alight receiving surface of the photoelectric converter 8 a comprisingfor example CCD and TDI sensors. Then, an output of the photoelectricconverter 8 a is analog-to-digital converted by the A/D converter 16 ato acquire a luminance value S(i) for each defect i before the output iswritten to the storage unit 17 a temporarily.

At the same time, the same coordinate position as that of the incidentillumination light 12 on the wafer surface oblique is irradiated withillumination light 11 including UV light or DUV light, which is emittedfrom the light source 2 b, and which has a wavelength different fromthat of the light source 2 a.

By the way, the total control unit 30 may control movement of the stage15, which switches the irradiation direction using the optical-pathswitching mechanism (not shown) so that the oblique illumination light11 is irradiated for the same position coordinate system as that of theincident illumination light 12 on the wafer surface.

Then, in a state in which regular reflection light component generatedfrom the insulating layer 22 is removed, only scattered light (a loworder diffraction light component) emitted from the extremely shallowand minute scratch 23 a and the foreign material (particulate foreignmaterial) 24, which have been made by CMP on the insulating layer 22, iscondensed by the condenser lens 6. After that, through the beam splitter7, the condensed light is received by the photoelectric converter 7 bfor example. Then, an output of the photoelectric converter 7 b isanalog-to-digital converted by the A/D converter 16 b to acquire aluminance value T(i) for each defect i before the output is written tothe storage unit 17 b temporarily.

Next, the comparator 18 calculates a ratio R(i) of the detectedluminance value S(i) for each defect i obtained by the incidentillumination 12, which is stored in the storage unit 17 a, to thedetected luminance value T (i) for each defect i obtained by the obliqueillumination 11, which is stored in storage unit 17 b. If the calculatedluminance ratio R(i) is higher than a predetermined threshold value(reference value for judgment: the discrimination line 20 shown in FIG.5), the comparator 18 judges it to be the foreign material 24. If theluminance ratio R(i) is lower, the comparator 18 judges it to be theextremely shallow and minute scratch 23 a. After the judgment, thecomparator 18 outputs the result to the total control unit 9. In thismanner, the scratch 23 a made by CMP is extremely shallow and minute.Therefore, if the incident illumination light 12 is irradiated on thesurface of the condenser lens 6, feeble stray light generated from thesurface of the condenser lens 6 will be also received by, for example,the photoelectric converter 7 a. In this case, it becomes difficult todiscriminate the stray light from the scattered light from the scratch23 a. For this reason, the apparatus in the example is configured sothat the surface of the condenser lens 6 is not irradiated with theincident illumination light 12.

In the first example, detection by the incident illumination light 12and detection by the oblique illumination light 11 are performedsimultaneously. However, it is to be noted that the detection by theincident illumination light 12 may be performed first before thedetection by the oblique illumination 11 later, and that the detectionby the oblique illumination light 11 may be performed first before thedetection by the incident illumination light 12. In addition, as regardsthe first example, the present invention can also be realized by thefollowing: writing a detected luminance value T(i) by the obliqueillumination 11, which is the second detection, to the storage unit 17temporarily after A/D conversion; without storing the second detectedluminance value T(i), referring to a detected luminance value S(i) bythe first incident illumination 12, which has already been storedconcurrently with the detection, in the comparator 18; and thenperforming luminance comparison operation.

Next, discrimination principles for realizing the embodiment accordingto the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and4 in detail. In the present invention, discrimination is performed byirradiating one defect with luminous flux d from two different angles(for example, the incident illumination 12 and the oblique illumination11). In the first place, as the incident illumination light 12, thedefect is irradiated with luminous flux d from a normal line directionof the wafer surface or from its proximity without irradiating thesurface of the condenser lens 6 directly. Next, as the obliqueillumination light 11, the wafer surface is irradiated with luminousflux d from an angle near from a horizontal direction. The incidentillumination 12 and the oblique illumination 11 may be performedregardless of the order of illumination operation. The discrimination isperformed by comparing intensity of scattered light emitted from thedefects 23 a, 24; in this case, each intensity is obtained by each ofthe illumination from the two directions with luminous flux d. Intensityof the scattered light emitted from the defects 23 a, 24 is determinedin response to light quantity of the light source, from which thedefects 23 a, 24 have received light. As shown in FIG. 3, it may beconsidered that the light quantity of light source, from which thedefects 23 a, 24 receive light, is substantially proportional to aprojected area of a defect size in a light source incident direction.

In the case of the scratch 23 a that is a concave defect, this projectedarea is substantially proportional to a width W at the time of theincident illumination. On the other hand, at the time of the obliqueillumination irradiated at a shallow angle of about 30° or less, theprojected area is substantially proportional to D′. On the contrary, thedepth D of the scratch 23 a is very shallow as compared with the widthW. Therefore, this oblique illumination projected length D′ becomes veryshort as compared with an incident illumination projected length W′. Asa result, light quantity of scattered light emitted from the scratch 23a at the time of the oblique illumination 11 is weaker. As compared withthis, in the case of the foreign material (particulate foreign material)24 that is a convex defect, projected lengths Φ of the obliqueillumination 11 and the incident illumination 12 are substantially thesame. Therefore, light quantity of scattered light emitted from theforeign material 24 does not indicate great change even if the obliqueillumination and the incident illumination are compared. For thisreason, as shown in FIG. 4, the following judgment becomes possible:detected luminance values S(i), T(i) of scattered light by the incidentillumination 12 and the oblique illumination 11 are compared with eachother; if the oblique illumination 11 is smaller than the incidentillumination 12, it is judged to be the scratch 23 a; and if the obliqueillumination 11 is larger than or equal to the incident illumination, itis judged to be the foreign material (particulate foreign material) 24.

Moreover, a thickness of the thin film-like foreign material 23 b isalso very thin. Because of it, as is the case with the scratch 23 a, adetected luminance value T(i) of the scattered light by the obliqueillumination 11 is smaller than a detected luminance value S(i) of thescattered light by the incident illumination 12, which allows us toconsider the thin film-like foreign material 23 b to be a concavedefect.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating an example of this discrimination result.This is a graph in which a horizontal axis is used for the detectedluminance value S (i) at the time of the incident illumination, and avertical axis is used for the detected luminance value T (i) at the timeof the oblique illumination. In this case, an area below adiscrimination line 20 shown in the figure is an area of the scratch 23a, and an area above the discrimination line 20 is an area of theforeign material 24. However, in reality, as shown in FIG. 5 clearly,even if the detected luminance value S(i) at the time of the incidentillumination and the detected luminance value T (i) at the time of theoblique illumination are simply compared to calculate a ratio betweenthem, it is not possible to draw (determine) a discrimination line(threshold value for judgment) 20. This means that it is difficult todiscriminate between the foreign material 24 and the scratch 23 a.Therefore, an example of a method for discriminating between the foreignmaterial (particulate foreign material) 24 and the scratch 23 aspecifically according to the present invention, using the detectedluminance value S(i) at the time of the incident illumination and thedetected luminance value T(i) at the time of the oblique illumination,will be described later.

By the way, because the insulating layer (for example, SiO₂ film) 22, onwhich the scratch 23 a is made by CMP, is transparent to light, regularreflection light from a lower layer, which includes light interference,is generated. However, in the case of the incident illumination 12 inparticular, as shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to devise the followingmethod: for example, placing the reflection mirror 4 c outside a visualfield of the condenser lens 6, which causes regular reflection light(including light interference light) from a surface of the insulatinglayer 22 and its lower layer to go out of a visual field of thecondenser lens (object lens) 6 so that, for example, the photoelectricconverter 8 a does not detect the regular reflection light.

As a matter of course, in the case of the oblique illumination 11, asshown in FIG. 1, the oblique illumination 11 is irradiated at a veryshallow angle by the reflection mirror 4 b. Therefore, the regularreflection light (including light interference light) from the surfaceof the insulating layer 22 and its lower layer goes out of a visualfield of the condenser lens 6. As a result, the regular reflection lightis not detected by the photoelectric converter 8 b.

Additionally, if a light source, which emits broadband light or whitelight, is used as the light source 2, a problem of light interferencebetween regular reflection light from the surface of the insulatinglayer 22 and regular reflection light from the lower layer does notarise. However, in order to obtain scattered light having high intensityfrom the minute scratch 23 a (depth D is shallow in particular) and theforeign material 24 on the insulating layer 22, it is desirable to useUV light or DUV light as illumination light.

Next, an example of a method for installing the reflection mirror 4 cwill be described with reference to FIG. 6. This is a method forpreventing stray light of a dark-field detecting system to detect adefect with high sensitivity. As it can be understood from theprinciples described above, the inspection of the scratch 23 a requiresillumination from a direction that is near from a normal line relativeto a surface of the wafer 10.

However, as regards incident illumination of UV light or DUV light, whenincident illumination light is illuminated on the wafer 10 through thecondenser lens 6, so-called stray light is produced, which causes anoise in a detected image. More specifically, it is because scatteredlight, which is made by a minute scar caused by polishing on the surfaceof the condenser lens 6 or is made by dust adhering to the condenserlens 6, becomes stray light. Because of it, when receiving minutescattered light from the defects 23 a, 24 using the photoelectricconverter 8 a to observe the scattered light, the stray light becomesfatal. To be more specific, the scattered light from the extremely smallscratch 23 a is hidden in noise caused by the stray light, which hindersdetection of the scattered light.

For this reason, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, it isnecessary to provide a reflection mirror 4 c so that the surface of thecondenser lens 6 is not irradiated with incident light having highintensity, and so that zero-order diffraction light, which is a regularreflection light component (including coherent light component) from thewafer 10 (a surface (CMP surface) of the interlayer insulating layer 22,a surface of its lower wiring layer, a surface of the scratch 23 a, anda surface of the foreign material 24) does not enter the condenser lens6 (that is to say, inside NA).

FIG. 6( a) shows a means comprising the steps of: placing the smallreflection mirror 4 c 1 substantially on a normal line of the wafer 10,which is between the wafer 10 and the condenser lens 6; throwing theincident illumination light 12 a on the small reflection mirror 4 c 1from a lateral direction to reflect the incident illumination light 12 aso that the surface of the condenser lens 6 is not irradiated; inaddition to it, reflecting a regular reflection light component(including a coherent light component) from the wafer 10 by thereflection mirror 4 c 1 so that the regular reflection light componentis not thrown into a pupil of the condenser lens 6; and among scatteredlight (first-order diffraction light component or more) from the scratch23 a and the foreign material 24, throwing scattered light (low orderdiffraction light component) of an area shown by oblique lines (shapedlike a circular zone if it is viewed as a plane) into the pupil of thecondenser lens 6. It is to be noted that an outside shape of this smallreflection mirror 4 c 1 is substantially oval. This is called scatteredlight detection by vertical illumination. However, this means is not sodesirable because a role as a lens is lost in a center portion of thecondenser lens 6.

In addition, FIG. 6( b) shows a means comprising the steps of: placingthe reflection mirror 4 c 2 outside NA of the condenser lens 6, andbetween the wafer 10 and the condenser lens 6; throwing the incidentillumination light 12 b on the reflection mirror 4 c 2 from a lateraldirection to reflect the incident illumination light 12 b so that thesurface of the condenser lens 6 is not irradiated; leading a regularreflection light component from the wafer 10 to outside of the pupil ofthe condenser lens 6; and from among scattered light from the scratch 23a and the foreign material 24, throwing scattered light of an area,which is shown by oblique lines, into the pupil of the condenser lens 6.It is to be noted that, if the reflection mirror 4 c 2 is extended in acircumferential direction, illumination light, which is illuminated bythe reflection mirror 4 c 2, assumes circular zone illumination. In thiscase, for example, providing three reflection mirrors 4 c 2 at intervalsof 120 degrees in a circumferential direction, and throwing each ofthree illumination light 12 b, which is obtained from between thosethree reflection mirrors 4 c 2 respectively, enable circular zoneillumination from three directions. On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 6(b), if the reflection mirror 4 c 2 is made partial, it assumes partialillumination of circular zone illumination. There are called scatteredlight detection by pseudo vertical illumination. This means is veryeffective because the whole visual field (pupil) of the condenser lens 6is used. However, it is necessary to add the number of luminous flux ofthe oblique illumination light 11 to the number of luminous flux of theincident illumination light 12 b.

Moreover, FIG. 6( c) shows a means comprising the steps of: placing asmall-sized reflection mirror or a small-sized half mirror 4 c 3 in aproximity to an optical axis above the condenser lens 6; placing thecondenser lens 6, through which an opening 50 is bored centrally;irradiating an insulating layer CMP surface on the wafer 10 with thevertical illumination light 12 a, which is reflected by the small-sizedreflection mirror or the small-sized half mirror 4 c 3, through theopening 50 without irradiating the surface of the condenser lens 6;shielding a regular reflection light component from the wafer 10 using aspatial filter (shielding element) 51 provided on a Fourier transformedsurface; and receiving scattered light, which is obtained through thecondenser lens 6 from among scattered light from the scratch 23 a andthe foreign material 24, by the photoelectric converter 8 a.

Furthermore, FIG. 6( d) shows a means comprising the steps of: as is thecase with FIG. 6( c), transmitting the incident illumination light 12 athrough a central portion of the half mirror 52 to illuminate theincident illumination light 12 a vertically on a CMP surface of thewafer 10 through the opening 50 of the condenser lens 6; shieldingregular reflection light from the wafer 10 using the spatial filter (ashielding element) 53 provided on the Fourier transformed surface;reflecting scattered light, which is obtained through the condenser lens6 from among scattered light from the scratch 23 a and the foreignmaterial 24, by a perimeter portion of the half mirror 52; and receivingthe scattered light using the photoelectric converter 8 a. It is to benoted that a perimeter portion of the half mirror 52 may be configuredby a reflection mirror.

As described above, in FIGS. 6( c) and 6(d), as is the case with FIG. 6(a), forming the opening 50 in the center of the condenser lens 6 enablesscattered light detection from vertical illumination and a verticaldirection without generating stray light from the surface of thecondenser lens 6. Because of it, even if the scratch 23 a is formed inany direction in a horizontal plane, scattered light, which is generatedfrom an edge of the very shallow scratch 23 a, can be received by thephotoelectric converter 8 a comparatively uniformly, which enablesacquirement of uniform detected luminance value S (i). In addition, inorder to get diffraction light having strong directivity in aright-angle direction relative to a large scratch (not illustrated),which is a linear pattern, vertical illumination is more desirable thanpseudo vertical illumination. However, the examples shown in FIGS. 6( c)and 6(d) are not so desirable because the opening 50 should be formed inthe central portion of the condenser lens 6, which causes a function ofthe condenser lens 6 to be decreased.

By the way, in the case of the scattered light detection by verticalillumination shown in FIG. 6( a), the surface of the condenser lens 6 isnot irradiated with incidence light obviously because the incidencelight passes below the lens 6. Therefore, stray light is not generated.Additionally, because regular reflection light from the wafer 10 isreflected by the reflection mirror 4 c 1, the regular reflection lightdoes not enter the pupil of the condenser lens 6. In addition, thevertical illumination shown in FIGS. 6( c) and 6(d) also does not enterthe pupil of the condenser lens 6. Moreover, in the case of thescattered light detection by pseudo vertical illumination shown in FIG.6( b), incidence light is not transmitted through the condenser lens 6obviously. Furthermore, because the reflection mirror 4 c 2 is placedoutside NA of the condenser lens 6, a regular reflection light componentfrom the wafer 10 does not enter the pupil of the condenser lens 6. Tobe more specific, in any means, incident illumination is realized sothat the incidence light, of which beam intensity is high, and which isprone to generate stray light, does not irradiate the surface of thecondenser lens 6, and so that regular reflection light from the wafer isnot thrown onto the condenser lens 6. Therefore, acquirement of adetected image having a high S/N ratio becomes possible from the scratch23 a and the foreign material 24 that are made on a CMP surface, whichis not prone to generate stray light, and on which CMP has been providedfor the interlayer insulating layer 22. By the way, because theinterlayer insulating layer 22 is transparent to light, light, which isregularly reflected from a lower layer, returns at the time ofincident-illumination. However, as described below, because the light isnot thrown into NA of the condenser lens (an object lens) 6, detectionof the scratch 23 a and the foreign material 24 using a signal, which isprovided from the photoelectric converter 8 a, becomes possible withoutinfluencing scattered light detection from the scratch 23 a and theforeign material 24.

Moreover, as regards the incident illumination 12 a, 12 b shown in FIG.6, not only for the purpose of solving the problem of stray light, butalso because it is easy to receive a component having high intensitydistribution of scattered light from the scratch 23 a in particular, itis possible to acquire high detection sensitivity in comparison with thecase where only the oblique illumination 11 is used. This is becauseintensity of a low order diffraction light component is comparativelyhigh from among a plurality of intensity of scattered light from thescratch 23 a. To be more specific, when irradiating from a direction inproximity to a normal line of the wafer surface, the low orderdiffraction light component is reflected from the wafer 10, whichenables easy condensing by the condenser lens 6. However, it isnecessary to prevent regular reflection light (diffraction light), whichcomes from groundwork of the insulation layer and a surface of theinsulation layer for example, from being shielded completely, or frombeing thrown completely into a pupil of the condenser lens 6.

As a result, in comparison with the case where only the obliqueillumination 11 is used, detection of the scratch 23 a with highsensitivity becomes possible. Thus, using only the vertical illumination12 a or only the pseudo vertical illumination 12 b permits inspection ofthe scratch 23 a with high sensitivity to be realized.

By the way, even if the reflection mirror 4 c 1 is placed in NA of thecondenser lens 6, if the reflection mirror 4 c 1 to be formed hassubstantially an oval shape so that image formation characteristics arenot influenced by the lens 6, etc., it becomes possible to condensescattered light of an area (circular zone area if it is viewedtwo-dimensionally), which is indicated by oblique lines in FIG. 6( a),by the condenser lens 6 for image formation. However, if existence ofthe reflection mirror 4 c 1 in NA of the condenser lens 6 exerts a badinfluence upon the image formation characteristics, it is necessary toprovide a mechanism by which the reflection mirror 4 c 1 is moved out ofthe NA at the time of vertical illumination. In the case ofsemiconductor inspection, it is necessary to remove dust generating fromthe defect-inspecting apparatus as much as possible. From this point ofview, it is not desirable to provide the moving mechanism above thewafer. However, even in such a case, using the pseudo verticalillumination 12 b will solve this problem. In the case of the pseudovertical illumination 12 b, the reflection mirror 4 c 2 exists outsidethe NA, which will not exert a bad influence upon the image formationcharacteristic by any means. Therefore, it is not necessary to providean extra moving mechanism.

Moreover, if the surface inspecting apparatus for scratch, etc.according to the present invention is used as a foreign-materialinspecting apparatus using only oblique illumination, verticalillumination becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the following method isalso possible: moving the reflection mirror 4 c 1 shown in FIG. 6( a)outside; utilizing all NAs of the condenser lens 6 to condense scatteredlight, which is generated from a foreign material, effectively; andreceiving the condensed light using the photoelectric converter 8 b.However, in order to prevent dust from being generated without movingthe reflection mirror 4 c 1 outside, the pseudo vertical illumination 12b, of which accuracy of detecting a scratch decreases to some extent, isused as vertical illumination of a surface inspecting apparatus.Additionally, if the means shown in FIGS. 6( c) and 6(d) are used asvertical illumination, even when using it as a foreign-materialinspecting apparatus, in which only oblique illumination is used, itsapplication becomes possible by stopping vertical illumination.Moreover, in the case where it is used as the foreign-materialinspecting apparatus, in which only oblique illumination is used, whentrying to detect a foreign material on a memory cell, on which aperiodical wiring pattern is formed, it is necessary to light-shield adiffraction pattern based on diffraction light from a periodical wiringpattern. Therefore, the spatial filters 51, 53 are replaced with linearspatial filters.

In the next place, a method for estimating a defect size in thecomparator 18, etc. according to a luminance signal S(i) for each defecti by the incident illumination 12 and a luminance signal T(i) for eachdefect i by the oblique illumination 11, which are stored in the storageunits 17 a, 17 b, will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) show waveforms 301, 302 of luminance signals S(i), T(i),which are detected from each of the foreign material 24, the scratch 23a, and the thin film-like foreign material 23 b. The luminance signalwaveform 302 shown in FIG. 7( b) is saturated at a level of 303, asshown in FIG. 7( c), due to a dynamic range of detectors (photoelectricconverters) 8 a, 8 b. Because of it, the luminance signal waveform 302is interpolated according to a plot point 304, and the interpolatedsignal waveform is integrated two-dimensionally to determine its volume.Because the luminance signal shown in FIG. 7( a) is not saturated, theluminance signal waveform is integrated two-dimensionally, as it is, todetermine a volume. Because the determined volume values(two-dimensionally integrated values) are in correlation with defectsizes, multiplying this correction coefficient permits estimated data inresponse to the defect size to be obtained.

FIG. 8 shows a relation between a foreign material size (μm), which isestimated as estimated data of a foreign material 2901 by the comparator18 of the inspection device according to the present invention, and asize (μm) that is actually measured by SEM. As shown in this FIG. 8,because of a plurality of process processing (CMP, for example)processes for the wafer 10, there are different correlations as shown by2902, 2903. For this reason, the correction coefficient described abovewill change in response to a surface state of the wafer. Therefore,according to SEM measurement, it is necessary to determine a correctioncoefficient in response to a product process (a surface state of thewafer) beforehand.

In addition, FIG. 9( a) shows that as regards a defect 3101 in afront-end process wafer (a wafer in a transistor formation process,which is an initial process), there is a correlation between a foreignmaterial size estimated from a luminance signal waveform. (μm) and a SEMmeasured size. (μm) with a correlation coefficient of R²=0.7945 at 3102.In this manner, because extremely small defects ranging from 0.1 to 0.4μm exert an influence upon performance of a transistor in the transistorformation process, it is found out that even such extremely smalldefects show a correlation. By the way, the correlation coefficient R isexpressed by an expression (Expression 1) as shown below.R=(NΣx _(I) y _(I)−(Σx _(I))(Σy _(I)))/(√{square root over ( )}(NΣx _(I)²−(Σx ₂)(NΣy _(I) ²−(Σy _(I))²))  (Expression 1)where x, y express variates.

In addition, FIG. 9( b) shows that as regards a defect 3101 in aback-end process wafer (a wafer in a wiring formation process, which isa latter-period process), there is a correlation between a foreignmaterial size estimated from a luminance signal waveform (μm) and a SEMmeasured size (μm) with a correlation coefficient of R²=0.7147 at 3102.In this manner, because minute foreign materials ranging from 0.3 toabout 5 μm or more exert an influence upon wiring in the wiringformation process, it is found out that even such minute defects show acorrelation. It is to be noted that because a minute foreign materialhaving a size of 0.3 μm or less has less importance in the wiringprocess, it is erased.

Next, a defect to be inspected by the inspecting apparatus according tothe present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 10. As adefect of a surface on which CMP has been processed, the followingexist: the convex defect 24 based on a usual foreign material(approximately ranging from 0.1 to 5 μm); the concave defect 23 a basedon a scratch (having a width W approximately ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 μm,and a depth D approximately ranging from several nm to several tens nm);and the flat defect 23 b, to which a thin film-like foreign material(having a diameter approximately ranging from 0.5 to 2 μm, and athickness approximately ranging from several nm to several tens nm)adheres.

Moreover, it has been found out that the convex defect 24 was indifferent correlation with the concave defect 23 a and the flat defect23 b judging from a correlation diagram (correlation coefficientR²=0.3847) based on a size from a luminance signal (μm) and a SEMmeasured size (μm).

In addition, it has been found out that it was possible to discriminatebetween the concave defect 23 a such as scratches and the flat defect 23b such as thin film-like foreign materials according to a defect size,which is estimated from luminance signals S(i), T(i) detected byincident illumination and/or oblique illumination. Furthermore, bychecking an area, on which the convex defect 24 such as foreignmaterials and the concave defect 23 a such as scratches are made, totell whether or not the area is inside a circuit pattern area, orwhether or not the area is outside the circuit pattern area, it becomespossible to discriminate fatality of the convex defect 24 such asforeign materials and the concave defect 23 a such as scratches to acircuit pattern.

Therefore, these discrimination methods, by which arithmetic processingis performed using the comparator 18, will be described with referenceto FIG. 11. In the first place, in a step S111, a luminance signal S(i)for each defect i by the incident illumination 12, which is detected bythe photoelectric converter 8 a, is A/D converted using the A/Dconverter 16 a before storing the luminance signal S (i) in the storageunit 17 a. At the same time, or after that, in a step S112, a luminancesignal T(i) for each defect i by the oblique illumination 11, which isdetected by the photoelectric converter 8 b, is A/D converted using theA/D converter 16 b before storing the luminance signal T (i) in thestorage unit 17 b. Then, in a step S113, judging from a ratio R(i) ofthe luminance signal S(i) for each defect i detected by the incidentillumination to the luminance signal T(i) for each defect i detected bythe oblique illumination, which have been stored in each of the storageunits 17 a, 17 b, the comparator 18 determines a concavo-convex level(b/a) shown in FIG. 12 using an expression (Expression 2) as shownbelow.

By the way, FIG. 12 is a table of logarithms in which both a horizontalaxis and a vertical axis are indicated by logarithms. In this FIG. 12, adirection of an arrow 121, which goes from bottom left to top right,corresponds to a defect size; and an arrow 122, which has a direction atthe right angle to the arrow 121, is indicated by a concavo-convex level(b/a) of a defect. The concavo-convex level (b/a) of a defect isindicated by a ratio of a size b of a vertical direction to a size a ofa lateral direction shown in FIG. 13. However, the following is notalways required: discrimination of the concavo-convex level of thedefect, which is based on a ratio of luminance signals (T(i)/S(i)), anddiscrimination of the defect size, which is based on a multiplied valueof an integrated value of the luminance signals (S(i), T(i)) by acorrection coefficient in response to a concavo-convex level and aprocess, take logarithms of the luminance signals respectively.R(i)=T(i)/S(i)=b/a  (Expression 2)

In this case, i is a serial number, which is provided for each defect,in order to evaluate several defects. It is to be noted that becausethere is a case where one defect is detected as a plurality of defectsdepending on a size of luminous flux d and a pixel size of thephotoelectric converter 7, it is necessary to convert a signal, whichindicates defects detected at positions close to one another, into asignal, which indicates one defect, using extension processing(connection processing). Because of it, the serial number i, which isprovided for each defect, is given to a signal indicating one defect forwhich connection processing is performed.

Moreover, in a step S114, the comparator 18 performs the following: ifthe luminance ratio R(i), which has been predetermined as describedabove, is higher than a predetermined threshold value (a reference valuefor judgment: the discrimination line 20 shown in FIG. 5), judging thedefect to be the convex defect 24 such as a particulate foreignmaterial; and if the luminance ratio R (i) is lower than thepredetermined threshold value, judging the defect to be the concavedefect 23 such as a scratch and a thin film-like foreign material. Inthis example, the detected luminance T(i) at the time of the obliqueillumination is divided by the detected luminance value S(i) at the timeof the incident illumination. However, in contrast with this, thedetected luminance value S(i) at the time of the incident illuminationmay be divided by the detected luminance value T(i) at the time of theoblique illumination. In this case, the defect is judged in thefollowing manner: if the ratio R(i) is higher than the predeterminedthreshold value (a reference value for judgment: the discrimination line20 shown in FIG. 5), the defect is judged to be the concave defect 23such as a scratch and a thin film-like foreign material; and if theratio R(i) is lower than the predetermined threshold value, the defectcan be judged to be the convex defect 24 such as a foreign material.

Next, in a step S115, the total control unit 30 calculates a correctioncoefficient to estimate data in response to a defect size on the basisof the concavo-convex level (b/a) obtained in the step S113 and processinformation of the wafer 10 obtained from the process-control computer101.

Next, in a step S116, the comparator 18 or the total control unit 30performs the following: on the basis of the luminance signal S(i) foreach defect i detected by incident illumination and the luminance signalT(i) for each defect i detected by oblique illumination, which have beenstored in each of the storage units 17 a, 17 b, integrating eachluminance signal waveform two-dimensionally to determine a volume value;multiplying the value by the correction coefficient calculated in thetotal control unit 30, which conforms to a surface state of the wafer(that can be acquired as process information from the process-controlcomputer 101) and the concavo-convex level (b/a); and calculating anestimated value of a defect size (estimated data in response to thesize) (μm).

Next, in a step S117, as shown in FIG. 12, the comparator 18 or thetotal control unit 30 can discriminate the concave defect 23 from thescratch 23 a and the thin film-like foreign material 23 b on the basisof data in response to the defect size estimated in the step S115. It isto be noted that, as shown in FIG. 12, it is also possible todiscriminate between the scratch 23 a and the thin film-like foreignmaterial 23 b by integrating a waveform of the luminance signal S(i) byincident illumination two-dimensionally to determine a volume value, andby using a multiplied value of the determined volume value by thecorrection coefficient (estimated data in response to size). using themethod described above, discrimination between the scratch 23 a, whichis a concave defect, and the thin film-like foreign material 23 bbecomes possible.

Next, in the total control unit 30, it is possible to discriminate theusual particulate foreign material 24 as a convex defect discriminatedin the step S114. In addition, if it is necessary to classify thediscriminated particulate foreign materials according to a size, using asize estimated value of a foreign material (estimated data in responseto size), which is obtained from the step S116, in a step S118 permitsthe discriminated particulate foreign materials to be classified for thepurpose of showing them in FIG. 12. Moreover, in a step S119, thecomparator 18 or the total control unit 30 can judge fatality of theforeign material 24 and the scratch 23 a in relation to a circuitpattern by judging that the particulate foreign material 24 and thescratch 23 a are made on the circuit pattern, or that they are madeoutside the circuit pattern; in this case, as shown in FIG. 14, asregards the small-sized particulate foreign material 24 and thesmall-sized scratch 23 a, the judgment is performed on the basis ofconfiguration information of circuit patterns on the wafer 10, which isobtained through the network 103 from a CAD system (not shown), or onthe basis of configuration information of circuit patterns, which isobtained based on an image signal of a circuit pattern detected by thedetector 8 a, 8 b. To be more specific, if the foreign material 24, ofwhich a defect size is small, is made on the circuit pattern, it can beclassified as category 1; if the particulate foreign material 24 is madeoutside the circuit pattern, it can be classified as category 2; if thescratch 23 a, of which a defect size is small, is made on the circuitpattern, it can be classified as category 3; if the scratch 23 a is madeoutside the circuit pattern, it can be classified as category 4; and iffor example a thin film-like foreign material, of which a defect size islarge, is made, it can be classified as category 5. In this manner, thetotal control unit 30 can classify the defects into the categories byprocess, at least by lot. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate thefatality of the defect. Additionally, it is also possible to utilize theclassification to investigate a cause of the defect. By the way, ifconfiguration information of a circuit pattern is obtained on the basisof an image signal of the circuit pattern, which is detected by thedetectors 8 a, 8 b, the luminance signal S(i), T(i) in relation to thedefect can be extracted by performing, for example, repeatedchip-comparison or die-comparison of the image signal detected by thedetector 8 a, 8 b to erase the image signal of the repeated circuitpattern.

Next, a correlation diagram illustrating a correlation between thedetected luminance value S(i) at the time of the incident illuminationand the detected luminance value T(i) at the time of the obliqueillumination for a particulate foreign material (shown by ◯) or ascratch (shown by Δ), which are displayed in the display device 33 bythe total control unit 30, is shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. As shown in FIG.16, as compared with a case where the luminance values S(i), T(i) aredisplayed using a normal scale shown in FIG. 15, taking logarithms forboth of the luminance values S(i), T(i) enables easier discriminationbetween the scratch 23 a and the foreign material 24 and easier settingof the threshold value (the discrimination line 20) for discriminatingboth of the scratch 23 a and the foreign material 24 on a screen. It isto be noted that, as shown in FIG. 16, if logarithms are provided for ahorizontal axis and a vertical axis, a correlation line 161 indicatingthe particulate foreign material 24 becomes parallel to a correlationline 162 indicating the scratch 23 a.

Next, a defect map, which is displayed on a screen of the display device33 by the total control unit 30, will be described with reference toFIG. 17. FIG. 17( a) shows a state in which a foreign material map offoreign materials on a wafer in a given CMP process is displayed on thescreen of the display device 33; this map is a result of an inspectionby which the foreign materials are discriminated in the step S114 shownin FIG. 11. In a similar manner, FIG. 17( b) shows a state in which ascratch map of scratches on a wafer in a given CMP process is displayedon the screen of the display device 33; this map is a result of aninspection by which the scratches are discriminated in the step S117shown in FIG. 11. In a similar manner, FIG. 17( c) shows a state inwhich a thin film-like foreign material map of thin film-like foreignmaterials on a wafer in a given CMP process is displayed on the screenof the display device 33; this map is a result of an inspection by whichthe thin film-like foreign materials are discriminated in the step S117shown in FIG. 11. Judging from each of the foreign material map, thescratch map, and the thin film-like foreign material map, it is possibleto know each generation distribution of the particulate foreignmaterials, the scratches, and the thin film-like foreign materials onthe wafer.

For this reason, supplying each generation distribution information ofthe particulate foreign materials, the scratches, and the thin film-likeforeign materials as feedback to a fabrication process, which performs apolishing process, a grinding process, a washing process, or asputtering process for an object surface to be processed of asemiconductor device, in order to take appropriate measures enablesdramatic improvement of a yield rate in the semiconductor device.

As described above, according to the present invention, the followingeffect is produced: in semiconductor production and magnetic headproduction, when the polishing or the grinding process, such as CMP, isperformed for an object to be fabricated such as an insulating layer, itis possible to inspect a scratch, etc. showing shape variations, whichis produced on the surface, and an adhered particulate foreign material,while discriminating among them.

In addition, according to the present invention, because shapes ofscratches are classified in detail, an effect of enabling quickidentification of a cause of malfunction is produced.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the following effects areproduced: because hundred percent sampling inspection or samplinginspection with high frequency is possible in the planarizationpolishing process, it is possible to detect malfunction of the polishingdevice immediately; as a result, appropriate measures can be taken,which enables dramatic improvement of a yield rate in a polishingprocess.

1. A defect-inspecting apparatus comprising: a stage on which an objectto be inspected is mounted; an illumination optical system including: ahigh-angle illumination system which illuminates light on a surface ofthe object to be inspected with desired luminous flux from a high-anglerelative to the surface of the object; and a low-angle illuminationsystem which illuminates light on the surface of the object to beinspected with desired luminous flux from a low-angle relative to saidhigh-angle illumination system; a detection optical system including: acondensing optical system which condenses light scattered from thesurface of the object by the illumination of the high-angle illuminationsystem and/or the low-angle illumination system; and a light receivingoptical unit which detects the scattered light condensed by saidcondensing optical system and converts the detected light into a firstsignal corresponding to said light illuminated by said high-angleillumination optical system and/or a second signal corresponding to saidlight illuminated by said low-angle illumination optical system; and aclassification unit which utilizes the first and second signal andclassifies defects on the object to be inspected, wherein a defect sizeis estimated by changing a correction coefficient of the defect size ona basis of a concave-convex level (b/a), where the concavo-convex level(b/a) of a defect is indicated by a ratio of a size b of a firstdirection of the defect to a size a of a second direction of the defect,where the second direction is lateral to the first direction.
 2. Adefect-inspecting apparatus according to claim 1, where the seconddirection is substantially orthogonal to the first direction.
 3. Adefect-inspecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: thehigh-angle illumination system of the illumination optical system isconfigured so that stray light is not generated from the imageinformation optical system.
 4. A defect-inspecting apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein: the detection optical system comprises a shieldingoptical element which shields a specific light image, which is caused byfirst reflection light generated from a point high-angleincident-illuminated by the high-angle illumination system, on a Fouriertransformed surface of the first reflection light emitted from thepoint.
 5. A defect-inspecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:the classification unit is configured to classify concave defects intoscratches and thin film-like foreign materials on a basis of data inresponse to a defect size calculated from the first signal and thesecond signal.